Denver Broncos outside linebacker Danny Trevathan (59) intercepts a pass intended for Dallas Cowboys tight end Gavin Escobar (89) during the second half of their NFL football game in Arlington, Texas on October 6, 2013. Dallas lost 51-48.

Just
about all the pre-game chatter Sunday centered on Peyton Manning. On CBS, on
Fox, on ESPN and on NFL Network it was all Peyton all the time whenever the
Cowboys and Broncos were the topic of conversation.

Only NFLN’s Kurt Warner had anything of substance to say about the other
quarterback in the game. At the time, I thought Warner had drawn the short straw
in NFLN’s studio. It was like previewing Citizen
Kane and being told by some executive that everyone else would be talking
about Orson Welles, so it fell to Warner to talk about Joseph Cotten.

“I want the old Tony Romo back,” said Warner, a retired quarterback with a
Super Bowl ring
in his jewelry box. “I want the guy who is a wild card every time out. I
watch the [Cowboys] offense [this season] and it’s stagnant.”

Warner wanted the rambling,
scrambling, gambling Romo.

Warner got his wish.

Romo threw for 506 yards and five touchdowns, leading the Cowboys to 48
points. No one in their right mind will be pointing out that DeMarco Murray
carried only 12 times for 43 yards.

But in the end, it was one stumbling, bumbling, humbling play responsible for
the Cowboys’
51-48 loss. Once more Romo played the role of Sisyphus, the Greek mythological
character sentenced to roll a boulder up the hill only to have it roll back down
again time after time after time.

It was a Romo pass intended for surrounded rookie tight end Gavin Escobar
that was intercepted by linebacker Danny Trevathan.

In the CBS booth, analyst Phil Simms, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback with a
Super Bowl MVP on his resume, didn’t have the heart to single out Romo at game’s
end.

“A game like this,” Simms told the national television audience, “it really
came down to who made that big mistake, and it was the Dallas Cowboys.”

Also known as Romo.

Problem
with pink: Simms, Jim Nantz and the CBS production crew had issues
throughout the game with pink penalty flags in a sea of breast cancer awareness
pink on the field. It was enough of an issue that Nantz had to explain the
problem to viewers and apologize.

Under
.500 division champion: The Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles share the NFC
East lead with identical records of 2-3. On the Fox pre-game show, Terry
Bradshaw compared the NFC East to a blind date. “A total disappointment,”
he calls the division. “Someone wins this thing going 7-9.”

Saps
not Sapp: ESPN’s Cris Carter pointed out pre-game that the Cowboys
defense that would yield 51 points cannot be compared with the Cover 2 that
coordinator Monte Kiffin fielded in Tampa Bay. “[Kiffin] doesn’t play Cover 2
like he used to. He doesn’t have an under-tackle like [Hall of Famer] Warren
Sapp, who can get rush on the passer through the pocket. Watch the Dallas
Cowboys … they don’t have the personnel to match up
with Peyton Manning. They are going to be very, very vanilla. You can’t
stop them when you’re vanilla.”

Where
was Ware: One of the few times Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Ware’s name
was mentioned in the game, it was when Nantz and Simms pointed out they weren’t
calling his name on plays.

Tweet
to repeat from @LarryHolder: “Something tells me Rob Ryan will get a
chuckle or two when he sees the Cowboys highlights.”

Tweet
to repeat II from @RoFloESPN: “If Peyton Manning is going to start
RUNNING for TDs??? might as well shut it down now.”

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About Barry Horn

Barry Horn has covered sports media for the last two decades. He was born in The Bronx, went to college at NYU, graduate school at Northwestern and worked at the Miami Herald immediately before joining SportsDay in 1981.

He once worked at the now defunct Hollywood Sun-Tattler, which despite its name was not a supermarket tabloid. His work as a feature writer, his other hat here, has earned him national, state and local awards, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination and an unequalled five state-wide Fred Hartman Awards for "excellence in sportswriting."

His wife runs a dental practice in Plano. His two sons attended the University of Texas and Texas A&M, and his daughter attends Trinity University in San Antonio.